Best Ever Albums

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

mickilennial — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 04:39:12 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 12/29/2023 09:39

Repo wrote:

Wow! Things really started getting HEAVY just the next year in 1964 ...

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The Five Faces Of Manfred Mann by Manfred Mann

Can anyone think of anything HEAVIER than this in 1964 (or even prior)?!

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garage and jazz wouldn't get really heavier and demented until after '64 from what i understand

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

Repo — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 09:32:11 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 11/10/2023 14:32

LedZep wrote:

The grandfather of all weird and heavy music is Screamin' Jay Hawkins with his immaculate version of I Put a Spell on You.

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Holy shit! This was recorded in 1956! One Nine Five Six! That's just cray cray!!! I always though it was recorded in the mid-sixties.

Here's a great synopsis of the circumstances surrounding it's recording back in 1956...

From Bayard on RYM...

Quote:

The astonishing "I Put a Spell On You" was cut on 12 September 1956 in New York by Screamin' Jay Hawkins (vocal) accompanied by the Leroy Kirkland Orchestra comprising Sam "The Man" Taylor (tenor saxophone), Heywood Henry (baritone saxophone), Jimmy Shirley (guitar), Ernie Hayes (piano), Lloyd Trotman (bass) and Panama Francis (drums).

The song was actually written by Hawkins as a blues ballad, and indeed he cut "I Put a Spell on You" in that form in late 1955 when with Grand Records, but the recording was not released at that time.

When Jay and the band went into the recording studio that September 1956 day to cut the song they had still intended to perform it as a ballad, but the producer of the session sent out for food and drink and encouraged Hawkins and the band to get completely drunk (Hawkins claims he doesn't even remember the recording session).

Freed from all inhibitions, Screamin' Jay snarls, grunts, moans and screams through the song, his bizarre vocal performance transforming the song into a magnificent slice of off the wall rhythm & blues influenced rock 'n' roll. Stop time passages, fiercely riffing saxophones, powerful guitar and drums and a superb tenor saxophone solo from Taylor all add immeasurably to the excitement as Hawkins casts a magical spell over the one he lusts over to prevent her straying.

Clearly too far out even for audiences who at the time were wholeheartedly embracing the rock 'n' roll revolution, "I Put a Spell on You" failed to make any chart.

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

Repo — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 08:54:18 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 11/10/2023 13:54

MadhattanJack wrote:

Here's an album by a rock 'n' roll group from the Philippines that was using a fuzzbox in 1964 - you can tell because one of the songs is called "Fuzzed."

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RJ & The Riots!

People underestimate Filipino culture at their own peril:

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It's even on Bandcamp. Apparently they're still playing gigs, after almost 60 years. \:D/

And Spotify! Listening now, and it's a really good surf album. Right up there with what The Beach Boys were doing at that time. Very solid & enjoyable! Must be a bit of a cult classic! Totally throwing it in the rankings!

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

MadhattanJack — Thu, 9 Nov 2023 19:24:51 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 11/10/2023 00:24

Here's an album by a rock 'n' roll group from the Philippines that was using a fuzzbox in 1964 - you can tell because one of the songs is called "Fuzzed."

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RJ & The Riots!

People underestimate Filipino culture at their own peril:

Link

It's even on Bandcamp. Apparently they're still playing gigs, after almost 60 years. 🕺

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

Repo — Thu, 9 Nov 2023 18:29:44 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 11/09/2023 23:29

Great post, Zep!!! 😎 I'll slowly work my way through all those recs probably staring with the stuff from pre-'64, BUT I first have to comment on THIS ...

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The Rolling Stones by The Rolling Stones

... which may not be HEAVY-iest album of 1964, BUT it may just well be the most BADASS. It's crazy that a debut LP in essentially an entire new genre of music -the British Blues - can sound this assured, nonchalant & COCKY! I don't think I've ever reached this level of I-don't-give-two-fucks ever. 🤣 >

Anyways, I'm surprised with just how amazing this is right out of the gates and this wave of HEAVY British Blues - The Kinks, The Stones, The Yardbirds, Manfred Mann - must have had the same sort of impact in 1964 that Punk had in 1977. Music really had never sounded this badass before! Bo Diddley?! 🤔 >

Also, I think I listened to the English release. It's the one that starts with "Route 66". Anyone have any thoughts on the American vs. British release or are they essentially the same.

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

LedZep — Thu, 9 Nov 2023 05:44:09 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 11/09/2023 10:44

The grandfather of all weird and heavy music is Screamin' Jay Hawkins with his immaculate version of I Put a Spell on You.

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Here's a band from the early 60s for you. Very lofi and pretty much unknown, but I've seen them mentioned in a proto-punk conversation somewhere. This is from 62'.

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Instrumental pick for 62' would be Misirlou, and I've just discovered this one as well.

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63' is a bit light on the heavy music, at least from what I've heard. Maybe Surfin' Bird? Them single Gloria probably wins the 64' (The Witch was released as a single that year if Chief's info is correct, so that's probably the winner), although The Kinks (You Really Got Me) and The Primitives (Lou Reed and John Cale's pretty crazy and heavy band) had a couple of notable singles.

After that, early The Who would be in contention for the heaviest band of 65', as well as the bands yall mentioned (but I still think The Sonics win this 65' competition quite easily). Reed/Cale duo with their bands The Roughnecks (singles You're Driving Me Insane and Cycle Annie) and The Velvet Underground were the ones truly pushing the boundaries not only with their heaviness, but also the type/style of heavy music they were playing. This wasn't conventional heavy rock, it was a unique noise and garage/proto punk sound. Slightly later than them, a different kind of heavy music was revolutionizing the rock genre. Hendrix, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Zappa, even The Doors and Pink Floyd etc. And then there's the pinnacle of the 60s heavy music with The Stooges debut. (Ok, the pinnacle might be the crazy stuff from White Light White Heat and European Son, but the Stooges are 1B at the very least)

Ofc, that's just the rock music. Free jazz also has to be in conversation for the wildest and noisiest music of the 60s.

Edit:
Here are some other cool picks I've just discovered. Some them are actually great, some are just interesting/weird. Amazing discoveries for me, thanks for starting this thread Repo 😁

High Tide - Futilist's Lament

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Spooky Tooth - Evil Woman

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Cromagnon - Caledonia -> wtf this is basically atmospheric black metal but in 1969, love the track and it's probably the heaviest song of the 60s now that I think of it

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The Crazy World of Arthur Brown - Fire

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The Ethix - Bad Trip (and the B-side, Skins)

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Blues Magoos - Dante's Inferno (and the A-side, One by One)

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Grand Funk - Paranoid

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Several brilliant songs which I've completely forgotten about: The Nile Song (Pink Floyd), Fields of Regret (Alice Cooper).
And the classics like Helter Skelter, I Want You, 21st Century Schizoid Man, Creedence Clearwater Revival's I Put a Spell on You, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida...

And this is probably the heaviest band of the 60s, but with no official releases (didn't even know Denudes were this old):

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'67–'69 Studio Et Live by 裸のラリーズ [Les Rallizes Dénudés]

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

Repo — Wed, 8 Nov 2023 13:26:06 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 11/08/2023 18:26

Tha1ChiefRocka wrote:

The most obvious answer for this would be the classic single "The Witch" by The Sonics. First released in November 1964.

I'm going to go look to see if I can find anything else. 65 is when things really take off.

EDIT:

Oh yeah, this one.

The Ventures- The Creeper

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Awesome rec, 1Chief!!! In fact, this ...

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Walk, Don't Run Vol. 2 by The Ventures

... entire album rips! Instrumental albums like this where every song has a similar sound are hard for me to listen to from beginning to end, BIUHard to listen to from beginning to end, BUT any of these songs would be GREAT on mix tape!

AND I should also do a Top Ten HEAVY SHIT! Songs list from '64 while I'm at it! I suspect The Sonics' "The Witch" will be way up there!

The list so far: https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=71199

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

Tha1ChiefRocka — Tue, 7 Nov 2023 23:59:39 GMT

Author: Tha1ChiefRocka

Posted: 11/08/2023 04:59

The most obvious answer for this would be the classic single "The Witch" by The Sonics. First released in November 1964.

I'm going to go look to see if I can find anything else. 65 is when things really take off.

EDIT:

Oh yeah, this one.

The Ventures- The Creeper

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Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

Repo — Tue, 7 Nov 2023 22:51:17 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 11/08/2023 03:51

Brothers & sisters! Let me see your hands out 'dere for what is CLEARLY one of The MC5's favorite albums ...

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Five Live Yardbirds by The Yardbirds

Wow! This is some raw as fuck and in your face Garage Rock. Just fantastic energy. I agree that the Manfred Mann debut is more "heavy", but this Yardbirds album definitely rocks out with some proto-punk fury.

So I think what I'll try to do next is Rank the HEAVIEST & ROCKINGEST albums from '64.

Anyone have any recs beyond what we've already discussed so far?! 🤔

The Contenders for the crown
Kinks
Rolling Stones
Manfred Mann
The Yardbirds

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

Repo — Tue, 7 Nov 2023 20:16:35 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 11/08/2023 01:16

MadhattanJack wrote:

That's actually a really good question. The Yardbirds' first album came out late that year, and it was a live album so you'd expect it to sound a little rougher than Five Faces of MM, but I don't think it does, personally. (There's a version of "Smokestack Lightning" on both albums though, and the Yardbirds' version is at least faster, FWIW.) I don't think either of them are as rockin' as the first Kinks album, but that's just me.

The main difference between the two LPs, production-wise at least, is that Manfred Mann had a keyboard player and the Yardbirds didn't, they just had a harmonica. On a live recording, the harmonica has to be mic'd up for people to hear it in the room, but when you record the show off your soundboard the vocals (and the harmonica, in this case) end up louder than everything else because everything else doesn't have to be mic'd up so high. So, the Yardbirds album basically sounds like a harmonica show with a nearly-inaudible backing band, whereas Manfred Mann were in a studio, so their album just sounds better.

As for the technology of the era, the first Marshall JTM and Vox AC30 amps were already available and in use by the beginning of 1964, but the first Tone Bender fuzzboxes didn't become available until late that year, and I doubt they're in use on either of these two albums. Keith Richards used an earlier fuzzbox (a Gibson Maestro) on some of the Stones' early stuff, but I think I read somewhere that he switched too, after the Tone Benders came out... Anyway, the Kinks (famously) got their trademark early guitar sound after Dave Davies cut up the speaker cone of his cheap little Elpico amp in a fit of rage with with a razorblade, and then tried playing through it anyway ("You Really Got Me" was recorded in March 1964, I believe). But that was obviously unsustainable and didn't work well in a live setting, so after 1964 most of those guys were playing through Tone Benders, at least until 1966 when the FuzzFace pedals came out (the ones with the distinctive round hockey-puck shape). Hendrix popularized the FuzzFace in a big way, so after that, everybody was making/buying/using distortion boxes and they were all off to the races, heaviness-wise.

So I guess what I'm ultimately trying to say here is "I can't, so I'm just going to type a bunch of words to make it seem like I vaguely know what I'm talking about despite my being about three years old at the time."

🤣 Feel free to "type a bunch of words..." any old time is this thread! GREAT fucking intel, my friend!!! Your explanation about the technology at the time and the live circumstances of that Yardbirds LP explains A LOT! 😎 I LOVE that The Kinks cut their trademark sound from rage & razorblades!!! 😈

I'll check out Five Live Yardbirds later tonight while drinking a cold beverage and report back. Kind of cool that this Manfred Mann is one of the albums that kicks off that whole Heavy Blues sound. Awesome music trivia!

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

MadhattanJack — Tue, 7 Nov 2023 17:41:26 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 11/07/2023 22:41

Repo wrote:

Can anyone think of anything HEAVIER than this in 1964 (or even prior)?!

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

Repo — Tue, 7 Nov 2023 16:30:38 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 11/07/2023 21:30

Wow! Things really started getting HEAVY just the next year in 1964 ...

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The Five Faces Of Manfred Mann by Manfred Mann

the English release. NOT the American one (which I understand is a bit more poppY).

... this shit is wild and definitely to my ears the beginning of the Heavy Blues!

The Rolling Stones and The Kinks got going this year as well, but this shit is just as good AND a bit heavier!

Can anyone think of anything HEAVIER than this in 1964 (or even prior)?!

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

Repo — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 22:06:24 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 09/20/2023 02:06

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I was so impressed with Ingmar Bergman's The Silence, that I decided to watch Though A Glass Darkly (1961) next. And I'm positively floored. The shots, the conversations, the setting. BUT, especially that play in the beginning. Everything is pretty much fantastic. His ability to capture ALL the ways we're flawed as humans. ALL the unique ways that we cannot connect to one another. We're either too soft or too hard. Too selfish or too unselfish. That no one really understands another.

So cue up The Cure's masterful "How Beautiful You Are" for a bit because I got to see The cUre at Riot Fest this weekend. And they were fucking gods, obvs!

Ride, Viagra Boys, Death Grips, Code Orange & Quicksand all CRUSHED it as well. Death Cab were also great in the open field as I tried not to trip on too many blankets. lol.

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

Repo — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 04:01:21 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 08/30/2023 08:01

'63:e The Silence (Ingmar Bergman)

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This was a difficult watch. The pain of emptiness is everywhere. A neglected boy. A sick, uncared for aunt. A mother too self absorbed in her own loneliness and emptiness to be capable of mothering either her son or her sick sister.

A beautifully shot film featuring a voluptuous Gunnel Lindbloom. It's a great look at sibling rivalry and the different ways - cerebral vs. sensual - the two have tried to fill their emptiness. Neither succeeding. A family that's not really a family. The only real empathy coming from an old porter at the grand hotel they're staying at.

Highly recommended. I liked this even more than the fantastical 8 1/2 which is high praise.

1963 Movie Rankings
1. The Silence
2. 8 1/2
3. Pink Panther
4. The Haunting
5. The Sword & The Stone

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

Repo — Sat, 5 Aug 2023 16:43:44 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 08/05/2023 20:43

'63:d Don't You Forget About Me

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The Everly Brothers Sing Great Country Hits by The Everly Brothers

The Setting: Forgotten. Jilted. The Everly Brothers could have been singing about their career on this set of country standards back in 1963. Once the steady of American teenage girls everywhere in the late 50s, they were completely forgotten in the wake of Beatlemania & the rising tide of Mersey Beat by the time this album rolled out in 1963. But was it fair?

The Listen: Not even close. If you ever need proof positive that life is not fair, well son, this is it. Perhaps the Everly's best album yet, this album is first class and first rate through and through. AND one of the best country albums of the entire sixties!

The Verdict: This will easily slide into my TOP TEN albums of 1963. Every song is immaculately played and a keeper. Once of those albums that stokes the fires of love more & more with each spin. A truly lost classic!!!

The Rating: 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

mickilennial — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 01:20:39 GMT
Author: mickilennial

Posted: 07/25/2023 05:20

oh dope

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

Repo — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 13:08:18 GMT
Author: Repo

Posted: 07/24/2023 17:08

Gowi wrote:

Repo wrote:

btw, This means I need a NEW movie rec for 1963!!! :wink:

The Haunting (dir. Robert Wise) would be my pick

Watched last night with my two girls in a hotel room in Sheboygan. They immediately fell in love with Theo - her attitude, her fashion, her barbed wit. BUT most of all they suspected that she had the hots for Nell, and they loved the fact that there was a LGBTQ icon way back in 1963. THAT was the highlight of the movie for them. lol.

I thought the casting was great. Especially Nell & Theo. The tension and love/hate between those two was striking. Nell was perfect as the girl most likely to lose her shit in a haunted house. The mix of guilt & resentment she'd harbored from years of taking care of her mother made her easy pickings!

Loved the ambience of the old house. The set designs were perfect.

I'd give it a solid 😈 😈 😈

1963 Movie Rankings
1. 8 1/2
2. Pink Panther
3. The Haunting
4. The Sword & The Stone

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

Repo — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 09:24:59 GMT
Author: Repo

Posted: 07/16/2023 13:24

Fischman wrote:

Glad you enjoyed the album.

Hope you and the kids have a great camping trip. I love the UP! Amazing area. My last trip was focused on mountain biking around Copper Harbor and Marquette.

Thanks, Fischman! We're headed to Pictured Rocks and Munising! Copper Harbor looks amazing. Will have to file that away!

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

Fischman — Sat, 15 Jul 2023 21:32:11 GMT
Author: Fischman

Posted: 07/16/2023 01:32

Glad you enjoyed the album.

Hope you and the kids have a great camping trip. I love the UP! Amazing area. My last trip was focused on mountain biking around Copper Harbor and Marquette.

Re: 1964: Heavy Shit!

Repo — Sat, 15 Jul 2023 19:09:00 GMT
Author: Repo

Posted: 07/15/2023 23:09

Repo wrote:

Fischman wrote:

I never really heard Midnight Blue like that, but in reading your description, I can see how it makes sense.

It comes from '58, not '63, but if you ever want to hear the ultimate music of seedy city film noir, Miles Davis's Ascenseur pour l'echafaud is about as descriptive as it gets.

It could be related to my limited exposure to jazz! lol. I'm just finally dipping my toes in. That's the scene which came to my mind while I was listening & washing dishes. I'll try comparing it with Ascenseur pour l'echafaud later this week when I get the chance!

So I started listening to Ascenseur while making some fried rice, AND I totally see what u mean with that first track - Generique. Totally has that smoky, late-night hotel bar vibe I love. BUT, then "Sur La Autoroute" comes on and it's just way to busy. It feels like daytime and I'm walking down a boisterous, clang-clanging city street. And then the next track "Julian dans l'ascenceur" is far too melancholy. That feels like something bad just happened and I'm holed up in my hotel room furtively looking out my window through drapes wondering if I'm being followed or sth.

Way cool album though!!! I saw the movie back in 2016 and remember really liking it. Now I'm going to have to watch it again! Not surprisingly since it's a soundtrack and all, I just feel Ascenseur pour l'echafaud has too many moods for what I was talking about. And now "Florence sur la champs-elysses" came on and again I feel we could be BACK at that smoky nightclub you were talking about! lol.

Ok. Back to making dinner! lol.

Thanks again!!! This was fun! 😁 🙏 It's great getting a real jazzhead's take!!!